A color photographic light-sensitive material for camera use, after being imagewise exposed, is usually subjected to processing steps comprising color developing, bleaching, fixing, washing and/or stabilizing; a color photographic paper, after being exposed in a printing process, is subjected to processing steps comprising color developing, bleach-fixing (bleaching, fixing), washing and/or stabilizing; and a black-and-white light-sensitive material, after being exposed, is usually subjected to developing, fixing and washing. Further, in the case of a reversal-type light-sensitive material, a reversal processing step is added to these processing steps.
The processing solutions used for these processing steps are commercially available in kit form containing concentrated solutions from the ease of transport and handling.
As the packaging material for these concentrated solutions there have conventionally been used plastic bottles, glass bottles and aluminum-sandwiched film containers. However, glass bottles can easily break during transit, allowing contents to run out. Plastic bottles are bulky and take up a large volume when discarded. Furthermore, plastic bottles, when incinerated, release sufficient energy to damage the incinerator. In addition, plastic bottle incineration creates a large amount of carbon dioxide, which is considered a cause of global warming. What is more important is that plastic bottles, when buried under the ground, do not decompose, resulting in problem that the reclaimed ground cannot be solidified. A film container made of aluminum (as a gas barrier) sandwiched by polyethylene resin sheets has also various shortcomings; for example, when subjected to incineration, the container is reduced to ashes, leaving the aluminum as an incinerated residuum, whose appropriate secondary treatment remains as a problem yet to be solved. Further, the ash causes the incinerator's filter to clog during incineration.
In addition, when the aluminum-sandwiched film container is used for the storage of low-pH concentrated kit solutions, its aluminum section tends to corrode or to cause delamination. These problems also occur when aluminum-sandwiched containers are, used for the storage of a strongly oxidizing bleacher such as ferric 1,3-propylenediaminetetraacetate.
Further, as packaging materials similar to that of the invention there have conventionally been known large packaging containers of 5-liter to 20-liter capacities such as those described in JP E.P. No. 14209/1929, Ekitight (trade name), produced by Dai Nippon Printing Co., Lontainer N (trade name), produced by Sekisui Seikei Kogyo Co., which can be used for photographic chemicals. These packaging materials consist of two or three outer and inner bags. It is difficult to produce such bags because their manufacture not only is costly with a heavy burden imposed thereon but also has the problem that their joined portions tend to become broken when subjected to vibrations. When a concentrated solution containing a bleaching agent or antioxidation agent is stored over a long period of time in these bags, the joined portions of the bags tend to deteriorate the quality of the content with time.
In recent years, as the number of small-scale photofinishers called `minilabs` increased, the consumption of processing chemicals for small-sized automatic processors increased. This in turn has resulted in an increase in discarded chemicals packaging material which aggravates the problems of disposal.
Another problem occurs as a result of long time storage of processing chemicals which can occur at elevated temperatures exceeding 50.degree. C. or under conditions wherein the packaged material is subjected to vibrations. These storage conditions can result in deterioration of the chemicals so that when they are used, they are unable is subjected to vibrations to provide objective photographic processing characteristics. In addition, the deteriorated processing chemicals, when used in an automatic processor, tend to form deposits on the inside walls of the processor. For this reason, there are demands for the development of a new packaging material capable of retaining the intrinsic characteristics of photographic processing chemicals contained therein, under severe conditions.